Harry Potter and the Daughter of Winter
by chris.dickson1994
Summary: When Maggie Dresden transferred to Hogwarts in her third year, she expected to be at least a little behind her classmates. She expected to be teased about her father being a Professor. What she didn't expect was to have monsters from the depths of Winter patrolling the school, or an escaped convict to to trying to break in and murder one of her classmates.
1. Chapter 1

Sitting on a train with only a sleeping dog for company, you think I'd be a little nervous. After what I've been through, being alone isn't enough to make me nervous. The unknown, though, is another thing altogether. Moving country for the second time in four years, starting at a new school, those made me nervous. But not too nervous. My dad would be there as well, teaching. I just wish I knew why.

Of course, it being a boarding school meant I would be around my classmates all year round. That may or may not be a good thing. I don't know. I hadn't met any of them yet. I could hear them, moving about on the platform outside, and every now and then one would look through the glass in the door and see the compartment was taken, then move on. I stopped looking up from my books the third time that happened. Well, I stopped moving my head. I still glanced up at the door.

To quote my dad, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to tear your face off. Or worse.

Eventually though, all the compartments must have filled up, because a trio of students looked through the glass and hesitated. I glanced over my book at them. There was enough space in the compartment for them, if they didn't mind squishing up a little and weren't afraid of dogs. I caught the eye of the girl of the group, a frizzy haired brunette, and gave her a small smile. She took that as the invitation it was and came inside. The two boys followed after her, though they hung back a little bit.

"Do you mind if we sit here? All the other compartments are full." She had the accent I'd sort of expected all English people to have, a sort of upper middle class sounding one.

"Knock yourselves out."

Frizzy entered first, with the two boys, one with glasses and a scar like a lightning bolt and the other very redheaded, coming in behind her. Bolt and Red froze when they saw Mouse. Frizzy just glanced at him, frowning as she put her suitcase in the storage space. She glanced at the covered pet travel cage she had with her. "Your dog doesn't chase cats, does it?"

"Don't worry. Mouse won't eat your cat." I replied, turning a page.

Frizzy just nodded and opened the cage, letting out the ugliest cat I've ever seen. It was fairly big as well, almost as big as Mister. It took one look at Mouse and hissed, arching it's back. Mouse just looked up. He didn't growl, or bare his teeth. He just looked at the thing. The cat backed down. I leaned down and scratched behind his ear as Bolt and Red stowed their suitcases behind their seats. Neither of them seemed keen to take the seat nearest Mouse. I looked at them over the top of my book. "Don't worry, he's a big softie." That didn't seem to make them feel better.

The two boys sat down, and after a little bit of silence, started talking about quid- something. Didn't Brits call money 'quid'? Frizzy took out a book of her own.

We spent the first half of the train ride like that, with Frizzy occasionally chiming into the conversation Bolt and Red were having. And then the train started slowing down.

Frizzy was the first to react. "We can't be there yet."

Bolt was sticking his head out the compartment when the train came to a halt, throwing him into his seat and closing the door.

The lights flickered and died. A chill sunk into my bones. I started to shiver, and Mouse leaned against my leg. I ran my hand through his fur, letting the big dog warm me. It didn't work. Red pressed his face against the window. "There's something out there."

The temperature dropped lower. I could see my breath in the air in front of me. My mouth was suddenly bone dry. I tried to take a drink of water, but it's frozen solid. Frost creeps over the window.

Something appeared by the door to the compartment, and I wasn't on the train anymore.

The smell of blood and an oppressive heat hit me like a slap to the face. Loud noises, gunshots, came from nearby, but the sound was hollow, cut down by the stone walls. The room was empty but for me and a bloodsoaked stone table. A chain kept me in the corner. Firelight passed through the door, making it even warmer. The gunfire slowed down and then stopped. A shape appeared in the doorway.

The Red King stared at me with a crazy smile, something red dripping from the corner of his mouth. He licks it away, shivering when he does. In his hand is a knife.

I know what should happen next. My father and his friends should come rushing in at any moment to save the day.

But this time they don't. The Red King snaps the chain as easily as he could my neck and drags me to the table. Two other vampires hold my arms and legs, and down came the knife.

Something wet touched my face. I blinked, and when they open again, Mouse is staring up at me, tongue hanging out. He licks me again and gave me a big doggy grin. I give him a big hug and think about never letting go. Mouse always made nightmares go away.

"Are you alright?"

I turned my head so fast I'm pretty sure I almost got whiplash, but it was only Frizzy, looking genuinely concerned. I look around the compartment. Red is talking to Glasses. It's concern all around, it seems.

"I'm fine," I reply, my voice quiet. "What happened?"

Frizzy licked her lips, suddenly nervous. "Er, well, I'm not quite sure. Something came near the door and you sort of froze, staring into space, but your dog started glowing and scared it away."

I looked down at Mouse and gave him a small smile and a squeeze, leaning my head on top of his to share his warmth and to feel his fur. He growled, low and deep in his chest, before giving my face a small lick.

Standing up straight, I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The train was starting up again, the lights flickering back on. The nightmare faded back where it belongs. I nodded towards Bolt. "What's his problem?"

Frizzy glared at me for a second, but then glanced at Bolt, who looked like he'd just seen a ghost, concern written on her face in mile high letters. "I don't know."

There was a few seconds of silence between us before I turned to face Frizzy. "I'm Maggie Dresden."

Frizzy gave me a small smile. "Hermione Granger. Thats Ron Weasley and Harry Potter," she said, pointing to Red first then Bolt. There was the type of silence you get when two people don't know what to talk about. Ron was talking quietly to Harry, who was sitting, elbows on knees and head in hands.

"What House are you in, Maggie? I don't think I've seen you around before."

"I'm not in a House yet. I've just moved from Chicago."

Hermione twisted in her seat to face me. "Oh really? Why did you move?"

"Dad got a job at Hogwarts, and teacher's children get educated free, so we decided I should at least try it," I answered, running a hand through Mouse's fur as he rolled over onto his back. I frowned down at him, but he just gave me a doggy grin and tried to use his puppy dog eyes on me. He seems to think those work no matter how big you get.

"What will your Dad be teaching? And where did you go before? The only school for magic I know of in America is the New Salem Academy, but I'm not sure how near Chicago that is."

Mouse gave up on getting a belly rub from me, and decided to try his luck on Hermione, but she just gave him a pat on the head. Must be a cat person. "My Dad'll be teaching Alternative Magic, which I think is a new class this year?" Hermione gave me a nod, so I kept going. "This will be my first time going to a school for magic. I went to a normal school and my Dad taught me magic. As for New Salem Academy, I'm not sure where it is either, but if it's in Salem, then it's on the east coast, so maybe a thousand miles from Chicago?

"A thousand miles? Wow. Thats almost the length of Britain. I guess there must be more than one school in America."

No shit, I thought. I just nodded and said, "Most likely."

"What sort of magic did your Dad teach you? Will it be the same type he'll be teaching in his class? Do you have any notes I could borrow?" The last one sounded fairly desperate.

"What he'll be teaching this year will probably be similar to what I learned when I started, yeah. Lets see, when I started learning, I learned how to make shields, the principles of thaumaturgy and evocation using tracking spells and wind manipulation, shields, some potions, enchanting. Oh, and shields."

Hermione had her mouth open, probably to ask me some more questions, when thankfully Ron cut her off. "Hermione, give her a break, will you? You can ask her questions all year. She probably has some about Hogwarts."

I flashed Ron a small smile while Hermione blushed slightly. Ron grinned back for a second before Harry mumbled something. Ron just grunted in reply, which Harry seemed to understand. How guys can communicate in grunts, I'll never know.

Now I had the chance, I asked Hermione a few questions about Hogwarts, though Ron added his two cents- two pence? - now and then. Harry even said a few words, it was like a Christmas miracle. Harry and Ron spent about an hour and twenty minutes explaining quidditch to me, most of which was spent explaining why the rest of the players bother if the snitch is worth fifteen goals and ends the game. It turns out I was missing some info, having not watched a quidditch game yet. In professional play, goals are apparently really common, with fifty to sixty goals per game being common over a normal three or four hour game, and the pitches are fairly large, giving the snitch a lot of space to hide, what with three dimensions to work in. Still, the only sport I was ever a fan of was soccer, which doesn't seem to have a following in the wizarding world, and is the only sport that makes sense to me.

A horn sounded, which Hermione told me meant we would be arriving soon. The boys left so Hermione and I could change, then we did the same for them. A few minutes later, the train slowed and pulled into the station. I started to sling my sports bag over my shoulder when Hermione noticed. "Just leave those here, they get taken up to your dorm for your." She glanced down at Mouse. "The same with Mouse, was it?" I nodded, and Mouse lay back down in the spot he'd been in for most of the train ride, looking for all the world like he was asleep.

As we left the train, I heard a shout of, "Firs' years!" Looking around, I saw a giant of a man, waving all the little kids towards him. He waved towards Hermione, Ron and Harry, who waved back before starting off. Not really wanting to go with the first years, I just followed along. Besides, it might have been my first year, but I wasn't a first year.

A little way away from the station was a series of carriages being pulled by skeletal horses. I glanced over them, but didn't really give them a second thought. When we were sitting in a carriage along with a few others introduced to me as Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood, whose surnames certainly didn't make me want to laugh. I was in the middle of learning what nargles were when Harry asked Hermione what the thing on the train was. She didn't know either, but according to Luna, they were Dementors, used to guard Azkaban, the one prison wizards in Britain had. Honestly, if they used Dementors as guards it'd be kinder just to kill the inmates.

Talk of Dementors put a damper on conversation until we reached the castle. Everyone else smiled when they saw it, but all I could do was sit there with my jaw on the floor. I mean, yeah, I had been told it was a castle, but there is being told that, and then there is seeing it. And with the moon just behind it, the windows glowing with light, and the reflection in the lake, it looked like something out of a faery tale. Which I guess it probably is. Luna had to shake me to get my attention when we arrived. I hadn't even noticed we had stopped.

"Wait until you see inside," the blonde said, before slipping off into a sea of black robes. I spied a spot of red hair and made my way over, hoping it was Ron. It was, and I tagged along with Hermione, Ron and Harry as they went to the Great Hall, having no idea how to get there myself.

It was hard work not being distracted by the castle. Moving paintings, ghosts, sets of armour lining the walls, all it needed was a song and it would be straight out of a Disney movie. Well, minus the ghosts still covered in blood. Hermione pointed out some interesting, as well as some 'interesting', bits of history along the way, as well as some useful things, like what stairs moved when, or where classes where.

When we reached the Great Hall, she said, "The ceiling is enchanted to look like the sky outside without the towers in the way. There are four long tables, one for each House."

"Eh, Hermione, quick question." I asked, cutting off what she was going to say next. She looked at me, confused. "Where do I sit? I'm not in a House."

She frowned a little. "Oh, I completely forgot. I really don't know. We've never had another transfer in my time here, and none of the books I've read say." She hummed, every second taking is closer to the Gryffindor table. "You might as well sit here for now. If Professor McGonagall calls your name go on up and get sorted, and if not you can ask her afterwards. And we can ask Percy, thats one of Ron's brother, if he knows. He's Head Boy, so he might have been told something."

I took a seat next to Hermione, across from a pair of redheaded twins. I got a nod before they started talking to Hermione, Harry and Ron. "Did you hear about the," one began, "Dementors on the train?" the other finished, sounding both scandalised and excited.

"Is that what those things were?" Hermione asked. "We had one right outside our compartment. If Maggie's dog hadn't scared it away, I don't know what we would have done."

They both turned to me. "You're dog," one said, "scared away a Dementor?" the other finished.

I shrugged. "He's a big dog."

"He really is," Ron said, "probably as big as either of you standing on his back legs. Hairy thing as well."

They didn't seem convinced. One turned to talk to Ron and Harry, while the one directly opposite me questioned me. "Who are you, anyway? I haven't seen you around Gryffindor before, and you aren't a first year, otherwise you'd be over there," he said, nodding towards the main door to the Great Hall, which had shut sometime since we entered.

"I'm a transfer from America. I haven't been sorted, but I didn't really want to sit anywhere else." That seemed a good enough answer for him. It even got a small smile.

"Well, thats understandable, my colonial friend. Gryffindor _is_ the best of the four Houses."

I rolled my eyes at 'colonial', but didn't a chance to respond as the doors swung open and a few dozen kids marched into the hall behind another redhead, this one a severe looking older women. I know redheads are all from this part of the world, but I had no idea they were this common. I could see another few at this table alone.

The redhead leading the children - Hermione whispered the name 'McGonagall' to me, so I guess it was Professor McGonagall - placed a ratty looking hat on a stool and pulled a scroll from somewhere. Then she took a step back, and the hat began to sing.

I was too stunned to even listen to it for the first few sentences, but I got the jist of it, which was don't be assholes, or was it arseholes, to each other. Then McGonagall took a step forward and, in a voice like a judge pronouncing sentence, began reading names from the scroll. After each name, a kid walked, or ran, or in one case hopped - he had two legs, just liked hopping I guess - forward, sat on the stool with the hat on their head for however long. Then the hat shouted out one of the Houses, and to that table they went, to thunderous applause three time out of four. The one in four that didn't get it was when the kid went to Slytherin. My name was never called.

Eventually, the last kid was sorted, and McGonagall scrolled up the scroll, and took her seat next to someone who looked like the inspiration for Gandalf, who then stood up to speak. Hermione whispered that this was Headmaster Dumbledore, which I guessed from the fact he had the biggest and fanciest chair and hat. If it had been just one, it might have been a question, but with both it was obvious.

"It is my great pleasure to welcome everyone here to Hogwarts for the year, and an even greater pleasure to introduce our newest members of staff. First, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin!" At this, a man in rather shabby robes raised a glass and nodded at the students, giving a small smile that grew at his applause. "Second, our new Care of Magical Creatures professor, our very own Rubeus Hagrid!" The giant from earlier waved down from the table, a huge grin visible under his slightly less huge beard, wiping away a tear as his applause grew to include some whistles. "And finally, but not least, the first professor for the new Alternative Magic subject, coming from the American Colonies, Harry Dresden!"

There was a scattering of applause this time, but it soon gave way to whispers. My dad just looked down from the teachers table. I caught his eye and gave him a small smile.

Dumbledore raised a hand, and all whisper stopped. I think that's probably the most impressive bit of magicI'll see all year. Getting a room full of teenagers to stop talking is no mean feat. I guess you don't get to be Headmaster of the top magic school in Europe by collecting bottle caps.

"Some more announcements, before the feast can begin. All students are to be aware the Forbidden Forest is, as the name more than implies, forbidden. There is to be no magic in the corridors, and certainly no dueling. Filch has increased the number of banned items to six hundred and twenty eight, a full list of which can be found in his office. And lastly, I am sure you are all aware by now Dementors are patrolling the school grounds. Let me assure you, they will not enter the castle, nor will they go near any part of the grounds students frequent. They are here for your protection but I warn against approaching them or attempting to sneak past them. Dementors famously have trouble differentiating between people. Now, let the Feast begin!"

There was a polite applause before people started tearing into the food that just _appeared_ on the plates in front of us. There was a small pause as people started to eat, but conversation started right up.

"I knew I'd heard the name 'Dresden' somewhere," Ron was saying to Harry. "I can't believe you haven't heard the of the Mad Wizard Harry Dresden. They say people like You-Know-Who won't even go _near_ the city he lives in because of how scared they are of him. He's amazing!"

Everyone up and down the table seemed to be talking about 'the Mad Wizard Dresden'. I just quietly ate my dinner. Any second now, though, he would say…

"Hey, Maggie, didn't you say he was your Dad?"

A dozen sets of eyes turned to me, as only those were close enough to hear. I swallowed what I was eating. At least it took longer than I though it might. Getting questioned about my Dad always put me off my food. "Yeah, why?"

"Well," Ron said, suddenly sheepish. "I was just wondering, how much of it is true?"

I sighed. All eyes were moving between us, no doubt eager for the answer, except Harry, who just nodded towards Ron, rolled his eyes, and went back to eating enough for three of me. "How much of what is true?"

"You know, the stories."

I polished off my mashed potatoes and put down my knife and fork. "What stories?" I asked, leaning forward with my elbows on the table before I remembered you weren't supposed to do that. Then I noticed no one seemed to care, and kept doing it.

One of the twins spoke before Ron could. "Did he really start a war with vampires over a girl?"

I couldn't stop myself from glaring at him. "That 'girl' was my mother. And yes."

The one I glared at leaned back, hands up defensively. His twin took his place. "I heard he ended it, but no one really knows how. D'you?"

"Nope," I lied. No way was I going near that powder keg. I still had occasional nightmares. He seemed disappointed.

Thankfully, desert replaced dinner and everyone went back to eating before I could get asked any more questions. I glanced up at the teacher's table and saw McGonagall heading my way.

"Miss Dresden," she said when she reached my seat. "After the feast please report to the Headmaster's office. Mr Potter, please guide her there. He is rather fond of Chocolate Frogs these days." We both nodded, and she went back to her seat.

I got a few questions because of that, but pretty quickly it was back to my Dad's adventures. I answered truthfully when I could, but some questions were about secrets that weren't mine to give, things my Dad didn't want people to know, things I didn't know, or things I just didn't want to talk about. Thankfully, there were only so many people who could reasonably ask me questions, so they dried up pretty quickly.

After the feast, Harry led me to the Headmasters office. We made a bit of small talk along the way, but it wasn't that long of a walk. I was a bit confused when we stopped in front of a grotesque, but when Harry said 'Chocolate Frogs', it moved aside, showing a spiralling spiral staircase. Cool. Magical schools are almost as awesome as I expected them to be. After a bit of debate about whether Harry was supposed to come up, as the staircase wasn't the office, he decided that if he wasn't, he would just be sent down again. I wasn't sure why Harry wanted to see Dumbledore, but I wasn't going to pry. If he wanted me to know he would tell me. Plus, the way he said it made it sound personal.

After what has to be the longest escalator I've ever been on, we reached Dumbledore's office. I knocked on the door, and after a few seconds, Dumbledore's voice came from the other side.

"Come in, come in." We pushed the door open, and the Headmaster looked up from his desk. "Ah, Harry, how nice to see you. And Miss Dresden, a pleasure. Here to be Sorted, aren't you?" I nodded, and he waved me forward. "We had planned to have you arrive early and do this the day before the normal sorting, but I'm afraid the start of a school year is rather hectic, especially with three new staff members, so I hope you understand how it managed to get forgotten." He pulled the singing hat from the shelf and held it out to me. "Though I dare say things seem to have worked out well for you. I'm sure you and Harry will get along famously."

Not really sure what to say to that, I just put the hat on. And nearly ripped it off when it started talking to me inside my head.

_Calm down, calm down. I can do no harm to you, nor tell any what secrets lie within your mind. I have no brain with which to remember them, only what I borrow from you._

That was sort of reassuring, at least. I took a deep breath, calming myself. _Okay, but if that''s a lie, you burn._

The hat sounded more annoyed that scared by that. _Of course I will, sweetie. Now, to Sort you! Where should you go? Fairly smart, yes, with a will to learn like few others. Ravenclaw would take you and be proud. Slytherin, no, you have intelligence and ambition but no cunning, and while you can be underhanded, you prefer to do things above board. Nor would Hufflepuff suit you, you would not find the solitude you need there. Brave enough for Gryffindor, certainly, but lacking the usual impulsiveness usually present in those I send there. Not that that would be a bad thing. What do you say? Ravenclaw or Gryffindor?_

I was a little surprised I got a choice, to be honest. I assumed it was a case of you took what you got or got out. Not knowing much about the differences between the two, it was a fairly easy choice. _Gryffindor. _

There was a moments pause before the hat repeated my choice. "GRYFFINDOR!" it yelled, sounding much louder than it had in the Great Hall. Dumbledore took the hat from my head.

"Congratulation on your house, Miss Dresden. Now, if you would wait outside a moment, I have something to discuss with Harry here."

I nodded, and left the room. Harry joined me a few moments later. "What did he want to talk about?" I asked. He froze, blinking owlishly. "If you don't want to say, just say so. I don't mind. Everyone has the right to a few secrets, after all." I gave him a smile and tried for a joke. "It would certainly make you more interesting."

He smiled back. "Thanks. And it's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just, it's kind of personal."

I waved it away. "Say no more. Just let me know if you ever need to talk about it." He nodded, looking grateful for the offer.

"Come on, we should get back to the common room. Ron and Hermione will be happy to see you in Gryffindor."

"And you aren't?" I asked. He started stammering and stuttering, making me burst out laughing. "I'm just kidding Harry. I just hope Mouse got there okay."

"He should be. Pets always are. How did you get permission to bring a dog, anyway? The letters always say a cat or an owl or a toad."

I shrugged. "I asked nicely? I guess it helps if your Dad is a teacher. Also, doesn't Ron have a rat?"

"It probably would yeah. And good point. I never asked about that, either."

We chatted a bit more on the way to the common room. Harry pointed out some things along the way, like the charms and transfiguration class rooms, as well as the Quidditch pitch, though it was too dark to see right now. After around half an hour of walking and talking, we stopped in front of a portrait of a fairly large women in a dress several centuries out of date.

"Ah, damn, I don't know the password," Harry said.

"Afraid I can't help you, deary," the portrait said. "You know the rules." So not only do paintings here move, they talk. Nice.

"I don't suppose my scar is proof enough?" Harry asked, lifting back his fringe to make his scar more visible.

"For you, perhaps, but what of her?" she asked, nodding towards me.

"New student, a transfer. Had to go see the Headmaster after the feast to get Sorted. Her name is Maggie."

She lost the chance to answer when her painting swung backwards, revealing a hole behind it. Standing behind it was one of the red headed twins from dinner.

"Hiya Harry. And Maggie! Nice of you to join us," he said. "Name's Fred, or maybe it's George, I'm not quite sure. Welcome to Gryffindor!" He waved us inside. "Password is _Fortuna Major_. Girls dorms are on the left, not sure what floor you're on. Hermione is still up, so you can ask her." As he spoke, his brother, who I'm guessing was George, or maybe Fred, joined him, and then they left with a wave goodbye.

Harry went through the portrait, and I followed behind. Ron and Hermione were sitting near the fire. Harry joined them, but I was looking for someone else. I spotted him, surrounded by what looked like first and second year girls.

"Mouse!" I said. The big dog looked up and barked once before scrambling to his feet and running at me. I knelt down and caught him in a hug. When I looked up, I had the attention of most of the common room. Which is expected, if what Harry said about dogs not normally allowed is true.

What wasn't expected was someone coming over to me a few seconds later and asking, "How do you have a Foo Dog?"

She looked more surprised than annoyed, the reaction I got most of the time when people recognised Mouse. "Mouse was my Dad's." Which, of course, led to the questions of…

"How did your Dad get a Foo Dog?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Ask him, maybe?"

The girl frowned. "How would I do that?"

I smiled, and put out my hand. "Hi, Maggie Dresden. My Dad teaches here now."

The girl smiled back and shook my hand. "Parvati Patil. I thought I saw you at dinner, but I wasn't sure. You're new, right?" I nodded. "If you're in third year, you'll be sharing a dorm with myself, Granger over there, Dunbar, and Lavender," she said, pointing to each girl. "Our dorms are up the left set of stairs, third floor."

"Thanks," I said. "I'll make sure Mouse has a place to sleep then have an early night. See you in the morning."

Parvati nodded. "Good night," she replied, before heading over to Lavender. I said goodnight to Harry, Hermione and Ron on my way to the stairs, taking them two at a time. My bed was at the far end from the door, with a bed for Mouse at the foot of it that looked just as comfy as mine.

"What do you think?" I asked him.

Mouse gave it a few sniffs, walked around it a few times, then lay down and went to sleep.

"Thought so," I said to myself. I spent the next few minutes getting ready for bed and checking I had all my stuff nearby before getting into bed, pulling the curtain tightly closed to block out the little light there was. Sleep came quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

I was the first one awake the next day, as far as I could tell. Not wanting to wake anyone else, I dressed quietly and left, making my way down to the common room as quickly as I could, Mouse following on my heels. I found a decent sized bowl on one of the shelves and filled it with water for Mouse, but food would have to wait until breakfast.

Leaving the common room, I looked down the corridor both ways and picked a direction. Ten feet later I was lost. I swear, it's like the corridors moved. "Mouse, find a way outside, will you?"

The big dog padded in front of me, sniffing along the floor of the hallway before turning around and going the other way.

Well, at least one of us could find our way around.

Mouse led me outside the castle pretty quickly. I thought he was lost because he kept going up, despite us starting on the top floor, but nope. Just a freaky magic castle, I guess.

The sun was just peaking over the horizon when I started jogging, Mouse padding along beside me. I came to what I'm guessing was the Quidditch pitch and did a half dozen laps around that, then had Mouse lead me back to the common room. Twenty minutes and a completely different route later, I'd replaced Mouse's water with a promise of food later. He sneezed at me then went back to sleep. I hit the showers.

When I came out the shower - the gloriously warm shower - Hermione was the only one awake, if you could call that awake. The only reason I didn't think she was sleeping walking was because she mumbled my name as she walked past me into the shower.

I had just finished getting dressed in my robes when she came out the shower, much more awake now.

"Good morning, Maggie," she said in a half-whisper. "It's nice to see someone else get an early start on their day. Have you been up long?"

"Morning, Hermione. Not really, maybe an hour or two. Hey, are there any rules against jewelery?"

"Some, but you should be fine as long as it's nothing too flashy or expensive. Why? What did you bring with you?"

"Earring, a necklace, and a charm bracelet," I said, showing her each one. The earring was just a small iron stud, nothing fancy. The necklace was a silver pentacle on an iron chain. The charm bracelet was a braid of iron, copper and silver hung with a dozen tiny shields of the same metals. She was already dressed in robes. I have no idea how she managed it so quickly.

"No, you should be fine with them. Where did you get them? They don't look like anything I've seen before." Hermione said.

"I made them, with some help on the fiddly bits." I never did get the hang of carving curves.

Breakfast was quiet for me. I'm used to getting up with the sun to make most use of the light, I guess. I don't think I've ever slept past nine in the morning. It got noisier as more students showed up, but it stayed below a dull roar.

First class was History of Magic, which was taught by a ghost, of all things. Binns somehow managed to make the entirety of the past millennium boring. It was a double period and only experience with staying awake in the more boring parts of church stopped me from nodding off. My notes would be useless, but before I could even ask, Hermione smiled and said she'd be happy to let me copy hers.

After lunch we had a free period, which I spent copying Hermione's notes and doing some reading. Afterwards was Herbology, which was alright. Basically just gardening, not that I said so when the Professor was near. I didn't understand everything, but I Ron just told me to do what Neville did, which worked, as soon as he pointed the guy out to me.

My second day started with Divination, which had more tea-leaves than I could handle. Trelawney kept predicting Harry would die, as well, which was annoying. I guess she went for quantity over quality. I might speak to McGonagall about dropping it, but I'll give it a couple weeks. Telling the future is a grey area with the Council anyway.

Transfiguration is where the real magic started.

Professor McGonagall was waiting in the class for us when we arrived. Her first words were, "Wands out."

Finally! I find it ridiculous I had to wait 'till my second day of magic school to actually learn some magic. I pulled out my wand, twelve inches of oak around a sliver of ice, and twirled it around my fingers like a majorette baton. At least, I did until McGonagall sent a small frown my way. Stopped it pretty quickly after that.

"I trust you are all still familiar with the basics of Transfiguration, yes? Visualise, focus, transform." Everyone around me gave a mumbled reply. I had no idea what she was talking about. Still, it couldn't be too hard. McGonagall nodded to us. "Good. Here is the starting point for this lesson." With a wave of her wand, a series of small statues flew some under her desk onto ours. "The Lapifors spell should not be beyond anyone in the class, and should serve as a refresher after the summer." Another wave, and a slightly larger statue flew onto her desk. "The wand movements, as you should know, are as follows." A series of wand movements - clockwise once, up, down, pull back, jab and twist - and the statue became a rabbit, complete with floppy ears and cotton-ball tail. I don't think rabbits actually looked like that. Turning to face us, McGonagall untransformed the rabbit with an idle wave of her wand. "And now you."

Twenty five minutes later I had nothing. The room was full of people saying the incantation and waving wands, though only a few had anything to show for it. Hermione had it first, then a few others whose names escaped me. McGonagall moved around the room, correcting incantations and wand movements. All she said to me was to keep trying, and that my wand movements and incantation were accurate enough.

At the fifty minute mark, I stopped trying and took a deep breath. I was one of the few people in the class who still hadn't managed it. I was the only one that hadn't managed _any _sort of change. I still had a plain old stupid statue, while everyone else had something. even if only fur or a tail in some cases. Class would end soon, so I figured I had time for one more try. I went through the motions slowly, visualising the change as I went.

A slow clockwise circle. Soft white fur. _La_.

Up, down. Floppy ears. _Pi._

Pull back, jab forward and twist. Movement. _Fors._

It sort of worked. It grew some fur, and turned into a rabbit. Well, a statue of a rabbit. It still moved. Okay, it fell over and twitched. Alright, it was terrible. But it was better than nothing.

The Head of my House looked down at my efforts, her lips a thin straight line, but didn't say anything until the bell rang for the end of class a few moments later. "A moment of your time, Miss Dresden."

I nodded, slowly packing away my things as everyone else trooped out. McGonagall waited until everyone else was away before continuing.

"Miss Dresden, would I be correct in thinking you have never performed any Transfiguration before coming to Hogwarts?" she asked.

"You would," I said. The floor was suddenly very interesting. I wonder how old those stones were?

McGonagall didn't say anything, just gave her wand a short, sharp wave. From her desk flew two bundles of parchment, which landed on my desk. One was noticeably larger than the other. "These are the exercises I set for first and second years," she said, tapping each set of parchment with her wand, the smaller bundle first, then the larger. "I would recommend starting with the first years' work and, when you feel you have completed those to an adequate standard, you may come to me and I will assess your progress." The smaller bundle scooted towards me. It was covered in rows of small, neat writing and precise diagrams showing wand positions along with what syllable you should be at in the incantation when making that wand movement.

"However," McGonagall said, snapping me out of my inspection of the first year exercises. "If you wish, you may take some of the second year exercises as well. This would let you see the point of some of the simpler exercises. Only some, as others will not make sense until you have completed the first year exercises and can tie everything together. I would caution against taking too many, as it may distract you from the first year ones. While they may seem simple at first, they are essential in building an understanding of the delicate art of Transfiguration."

I looked down at the larger bundle. It wasn't even a question. More knowledge is always better than less. "I'll take them," I said, nodding to the second year bundle.

McGonagall nodded and gave her wand another wave, this one much smoother. Around half of the second year bundle lifted from my desk and flew back to hers. "This is the most I can allow you to take, though again I caution against taking too many."

Again, no question. "The faster I get through this, the faster I get caught up. I'll take it all."

McGonagall sighed, and I'm pretty sure she muttered something about foolish Gryffindors. "Very well. My door is always open. Any questions?"

I nodded. "A few. Does this include homework exercises? And how will I know if I've gotten them right? Do I bring them to you, or is there a marking guide in here?"

"Homework is included," McGonagall answered. "And bring them to me. I won't ask for a certain amount, as I assume you will be doing the same for other classes?" It seemed like a question, so I nodded, but it really hadn't occurred to me. I hoped I didn't have to do it for all my classes. "I suggest handing them in with any assignments for your year you manage to complete."

I nodded again. "Thank you, Professor. I'll do my best." Now I just needed somewhere to work through this. You can't do spellwork in the library, and I'd rather not be seen doing this in the common room.

"I can expect nothing more, Miss Dresden." She walked back to her desk, but paused just in front of it, looking back at me over her shoulder. "Oh, and the classroom two doors to the right and one floor up is unused and unlocked."

I gave her a smile, and I'm eighty percent sure I saw her lips start to curl as well. "Thank you, Professor. Thank you very much."

I packed away the parchment and left the classroom. We had a short break between second and third period, so I had time to check out the classroom McGonagall had mentioned before Potions. It was only fifteen minutes, though, so all I could do was pop my head inside and give it a look. It wasn't large, and was a little dusty. A set of chairs was stacked across one wall, desks across another. It would do.

I had to rush to Potions, but I made it in time. Harry, Ron and Hermione had mentioned Snape on the train, and it was made abundantly clear to me that I didn't want to be late to his class. The three of them came up to me when I reached the Potions classroom.

"What did Professor McGonagall want?" Hermione asked me.

"She wanted to know how much Transfiguration I've done before," I said. "And she gave me some notes on the things I haven't done."

Harry frowned at me. "Wait, so how much work do you need to catch up on?"

"Eh, sort of all of it," I said, scratching the back of my head and looking around the corridor. They looked at me like I was crazy, or stupid, or both. "Well, I was taught different branches of magic than the ones you learn here," I said. "Anyway, not important. Do any of you have notes I can borrow?" Both Harry and Ron looked to Hermione, so I did as well.

"You can borrow mine, Maggie," Hermione said. "They're in my trunk, so I can get you them after dinner, or at lunch if you'd prefer."

"After dinner is fine, thanks. And thanks for the directions as well.

Harry, Ron and Hermione joked a bit for the next few moments while I just sort of stood there, a fourth wheel. I was so happy when the door slammed open and everyone else filled inside. I followed behind Hermione. Harry and Ron took a bench next to each other, so I snagged a seat next to Hermione. I was looking forward to this, despite the warnings I'd received about Snape. I knew potions. I'd made dozens, even if they were nothing like the ones here. If nothing else, I could follow instructions in a book. This was one class I wouldn't be behind in.

Snape followed behind the last student, the door closing gently behind him. He waved his wand and words appeared on an old school chalkboard behind him. He launched straight into the lesson.

"Today, you will be making a Confusion Concoction. Instructions are on the board. Ingredients, which you should not need this early into the year, are in the cupboards. Anyone who fails to make this potion, or makes it incorrectly, owes me three feet on proper potions procedure as well as a foot and a half on how to correctly prepare the potion. The rest merely owe me a foot and a half foot, respectively." He paused, looking around the class. "Begin."

Everyone scrambled to begin making the potion while I just read and re-read the instructions on the board. They were absolutely nothing like the potions I was used to making. I guess the water used could be the liquid base, but there were too many ingredients, the instructions too convoluted to belong to any potion I was used to making. The potions I had been taught had eight ingredients - the liquid base, one for each of the five main 'senses', one for the mind, and one for the soul - and the steps were 'add the ingredients, add magic'.

Still, I can do what a book tells me to do. I would need to spend some time learning why not to add porcupine quills while the pot - sorry, cauldron - is still over a fire, but it can't be that difficult.

I was so focused on making sure my potion was done right than when the Professor called out for us to hand in what we'd made I jumped in my seat. Oddly enough, everyone but Harry and one other Gryffindor had a potion of some sort, though I could have sworn he was making it, and that he was ahead of me. I guess he made a mistake.

After Potions was the first lesson I was really looking forward to. Alternative Magic, with Harry Dresden, which we also had with Slytherins. It being an elective and not a core class, I hadn't expected everyone to be taking it. I said as much to Hermione on the way there.

"We weren't actually given a choice for that," she explained. "It's called an elective because we would have had the option, if it hadn't been added over the summer. When did your father accept the job?"

I shrugged. "I didn't find out about it until early August, but I think he had been planning on going somewhere for a few months before that."

The classroom was a few floors up from the dungeons, so not overly far away. Why they didn't have all the classes near each other, I don't know. Potions being in the dungeon I got, if you handed kids something potentially explosive you wanted a few sets of walls between you and them. But Divination was in a tower, on the other side of the castle. That made sense for something like Astronomy, but little else.

The door to the class was open, so we all filed inside. Dad wasn't there yet. The classroom looked a lot like the lab he had set up on Demonreach. On one side, there was loads of books, potentially but probably not useful random crap, boxes and tubs of reagents, all carefully labeled by yours truly. A whiteboard leaned against the bookshelves, a tub of colored markers next to it. On the shelves, just above the whiteboard, was a roughly crafted wood and bone skull, sitting atop a pile of young adult fiction novels. A giant cat purred next to it. Candles of all shapes and sizes were dotted around the room, unlit.

In the middle were our desks, and everyone grabbed one, looking around the room curiously. I took one two rows back. I prefered the back row in most classes, but this was my dad's class, so that wasn't an option.

Behind us was a few sets of circles made of a variety of materials, set in the stone floor of the room. Copper was the most common, with a some iron and I think some wood, as well as one of twisted ropes of silver and gold. I heard some comments about that. Hermione already had parchment and ink out.

Around me, people shivered. It wasn't cold enough for breath to mist, but it was a good bit below normal room temperature. I was fine. The cold doesn't bother me much. I was used to it.

There was a tapping noise, and I glanced over towards the door. In walked my dad, staff tapping against the floor with each step, duster billowing out behind him. He waved his hand and the candles burst into light. The scars on his face seemed to stand out more than usual. He stood behind his desk, looking out over the class.

"If you only take one thing from this class, let it be this. Almost every human practitioner of the Art follows the Laws of Magic as set down by the White Council." He gave his staff a flourish and words appeared on the whiteboard.

The Seven Laws of Magic

I. Thou Shalt Not Kill by Use of Magic.

II. Thou Shalt Not Transform Another.

III. Thou Shalt Not Invade the Mind of Another.

IV. Thou Shalt Not Enthrall Another.

V. Thou Shalt Not Seek Beyond the Borders of Life.

VI. Thou Shalt Not Swim Against the Currents of Time.

VII. Thou Shalt Not Seek Beyond the Outer Gates.

"Read them," he said. "Commit them to memory. Lack of knowledge is no excuse. Breaking any of these laws, even once, is punishable by immediate execution." The class was silent. "No trial. No appeal. Just you, a Warden, and a very. Sharp. Sword." He paused, and walked around his desk. "That said, these laws only apply to people. Any questions?"

Slowly, Hermione raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss?"

"Granger, Hermione Granger." She sounded higher pitched than normal. I think Harry noticed, because he gave her a concerned look. She cleared her throat before continuing, sounding more like normal this time, but still a bit shaky. "What about extenuating circumstances, like self-defense?"

"There is a clause for self defense, but it's been used maybe twice in the past century, and requires an existing council member to take responsibility for you. Should you break the law again, both you and the member that vouched for you die, so you can probably understand why it's used rarely. Any other questions?

There were none. My dad just nodded, then reached into his desk, pulling out a book and showing the cover to the class. I recognized it immediately. I had damn near memorized the thing.

"Right, open up your desks." Everyone did. Inside was a book. I left it there, I already had a copy. Closing my desk, I looked up to see him holding a copy of the same book. "This is _Elementary Magic_, and it is probably the most important book you will ever read. This book comes the closest of any I have found to teaching you how magic - not any particular branch or type of magic, but magic itself, as a force - works, and how to use it, without any religious or superstitious connotations. Just inside the front cover, you'll find the syllabus. I won't assign any reading, but I expect you to at least keep up with the syllabus."

He paused as everyone took a look at the syllabus. I gave it a once over. Evocation, thaumaturgy and circles, with shields their own section. Next some history, probably the Accords and the factions signed up to them, then a bit on potions. Enchantment and the purpose and creation of foci got some time, then a whole section on the Fae and the Nevernever. Afterwards was a lot more evocation and a little practical thaumaturgy, some more history, and some time on the more common magical baddies you're likely to meet and how to defend against them. It didn't say it in those words, but that's what it meant.

The first lesson was a practical one, on circles. He had us empower circles and throw spells at each other, from inside and outside the circle, to give us an idea of what the circles could stop, and what they couldn't. We were encouraged to experiment. Easy enough. We split into pairs, each pair claiming a circle as their own. There was an odd number, so I opted to not take part. It's nothing I've not done a hundred times already. I gave some pointers to people near me, and gave Hermione a quick demonstration, empowering the circle with a brief effort of will. It took some time, but everyone got it, though there were a lot of sparks and flashes of light, even some sound from the sloppier people.

Once everyone had done it at least once, Dad moved to the front of the class, getting everyone's attention on the way there.

"Everyone get it? Good. Now you all have an idea what using magic without your wand feels like. How different is it from using your wand?"

There were a few answers, mostly of the 'not a lot' variety.

"You know, enthusiasm won't kill you. Anyway, good. There shouldn't be much difference, because it's still your magic, your just using it a different way, and with thaumaturgy the difference in methods isn't all that big. With your wands, you actually perform a minor thaumaturgic ritual, using the wand movements and incantation. It's why almost every spell you use has a circle in the wand movements; circles are good for focusing and isolating power. Evocation will be different, and I'll explain why, and let you try, next lesson. For now, I'm going to be going other some theory. Let me know if this sounds familiar to you." With that, he turned to the whiteboard, cleaned it off, and started drawing ritual circles and wand movement diagrams, comparing the two. He also finally got round to mentioning the basic idea behind thaumaturgy: as above, so below. You make somehow happen on a small scale, give it enough energy, and it'll happen on a large scale. There were also some equations they had to learn, all to do with heat or force, that we would need for the next lesson.

I was copying down the equations for my notes when the bell for the end of class rang. I was packing my things away when my dad looked at me. "Stay behind a minute, Maggie." I got some odd looks from the rest of the class who hadn't heard. I sat back down, looking through my copy of _Elementary Magic_. When everyone else had filled out, with Hermione telling me she would wait outside to show me where our next class was, my dad waved me over to his desk.

"What did you think?" he asked, sitting down.

"It was okay. I can't really say how well you explained stuff, because I already know it." He nodded, like he had expected nothing else.

"You have Defense Against the Dark Arts next, right?" It wasn't really a question, but I nodded anyway. "Right. I've heard some stories about the last the two teachers they've had for that class, and I'm sure you have as well. Professor Lupin knows his stuff, though, so pay attention."

I gave him a hug, which nearly resulted in broken ribs for me, and promised to visit this weekend, if not earlier.

Outside the classroom was a surprise. Hermione was there, but that wasn't surprising, because she said she would, and she doesn't seem the type to just leave when she said she would wait. I was a little surprised to see Harry and Ron waiting as well. Harry was looking at me a little oddly when I joined the three of them.

Of course, it was Hermione who asked, "What did Professor Dresden want?"

"Wanted to know what I thought of the lesson, and a promise not to forget about him."

"Why would you forget about him?" Harry asked, a confused frown on his face, like he couldn't understand what he had just said.

I shrugged. "New school, new people, lots of classes, studying to do and mischief to make would be my guess." Harry just shook his head as if it still didn't make sense.

Hermione lead the way to the new classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts, or D.A.D.A. for short. Apparently, this was their third teacher in as many years, and the classroom was in a different place each year. How Hermione knew where it was, neither Ron nor Harry could say. The good thing, for me at least, was that if the last two teachers had been terrible then I couldn't be too far behind.

We turned a corner, and I saw some people I recognized in our year lined against a wall. We joined the end of the line, chatting a bit until the class started. I think Hermione, Harry and Ron were used to it being just the three of them, because they seemed to naturally move into a little triangle. I felt like the odd one out again, standing to the side. Thankfully, it was only a few minutes before the door opened and we filled in.

The class was an introduction as well as a test to find out what we knew. Lupin gave out sheets of parchment with questions for us to answer, all on various beasties that we're likely to run into and either to describe them or name from a description, and what to do when we meet one. I recognized most of them - the various types of vampires, for instance - and for the ones I didn't, I just answered _run away._ If you don't know what a thing is, the only things you can do are run away or go for overkill, and sometimes overkill isn't enough.

We passed them forward, and Lupin went on to explain what we would be learning this year, assuming the results were good enough, and then the class was over. Hermione, Harry and Ron were still whispering. I didn't feel like going to lunch, so I headed for the grounds. Somewhere along the way I bumped into Mouse and he managed to lead me outside. I found a decently shady tree not far from the edge of the forest and sat down, taking out the notes Professor McGonagall had given me. I read through the lectures, taking notes of questions I wanted to ask. I was about halfway through the first week of classes when Mouse, who had been sniffing around the tree, stood straight up and turned towards the forest.

"What's up?" I asked, peering into the forest. "Smell something odd?"

Mouse looked up at me, then back to the forest. He did that a couple more times before taking a few steps towards the forest before glancing back to me. I hadn't moved other than to shake my bracelet free of my sleeve and to get my wand in hand. That must have been what Mouse wanted, because he turned back to the forest and went inside. Even with the sun above, the forest was too dark to see anything beyond a few steps inside, and even being on the edge it was starting to give me the creeps. It felt old, old and angry, like it knew I wouldn't be here for long and would like to speed things up. Every second Mouse was inside I grew a little more tense.

When he came bounding out, I almost bolted, but he stopped just outside the forest and looked at me, grinning at me like he had found the biggest bone ever.

I saw something big and black poke it's head out of the forest before vanishing. No idea what it could be, but considering it was in the Forbidden-with-a-capital-F Forest, I wasn't going to go looking. Instead I just patted the ground next to me, had Mouse put his fluffy self between me and the forest, and went back to the notes.

I managed to read, though not really understand, the first week of lectures when Mouse perked up and glanced towards the castle. I saw a familiar set of of heads heading my way.

"Hiya, Maggie," Ron said, smiling a bit. He seemed much happier than he had earlier. Must have had a good lunch. Hermione added her 'hello' and Harry just nodded at me, hanging back a bit and giving Mouse some wary looks.

"Howdy," I said, nodding back. "Is lunch over?"

Ron shook his head. "Naw, not yet. We've got Care of Magical Creatures next, and we know the teacher. It his first time teaching, so we figured we'd head down and say hi before class."

"I've got that next as well. Is it out on the grounds?"

"It is," Harry said. "Hagrid's teaching this year, so it should be interesting. Come on, we'll introduce you. He'll love meeting Mouse."

Harry told me about Hagrid on the way to Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid was the one who told Harry he was a wizard, apparently, and introduced him to the whole wizard thing. It surprised me that he didn't know, and then Hermione said she was a 'Muggleborn', or a wizard with two vanilla parents. Hermione also got annoyed when I kept referring to her and myself as 'wizards', which led into an explanation of how the White Council sees things - that is, what you get called is based on what you can do, with wizards at the top. Describing it as the equivalent of having multiple degrees from multiple prestigious schools helped sway her, I think. She stopped complaining afterwards, at least.

Hagrid was a very large man, around ten foot tall and he must have been about half a ton. Harry introduced me, and when I mentioned I hadn't actually had any tea yet he insisted on making me a cup. He also offered me some rock cakes which, after seeing Harry, Hermione and Ron all shaking their heads, I decided not to eat. The tea was okay, I guess. Not my thing really. While I drank it, Hagrid fussed over Mouse, gave him a bone he said should last all day. It was gone within minutes. Hagrid said Mouse could stay with his dog, Fang, while the class was on, and was welcome down anytime. They seemed to get on well enough.

Care of Magical Creatures was as interesting as Harry promised. Hagrid led us to a paddock on the edge of a forest that held a herd - flock? - of hippogryphs, where he explained a few things about hippogryphs. Namely, they're proud creatures so you should not insult them. Don't blink, don't look away, maintain eye contact. Bow before approaching them. Nothing overly difficult, really. Hagrid maintained they weren't dangerous, but I still kept myself ready to bring up a shield. Those talons were about as long as my hand, and the beaks looked just as sharp.

The lesson went well until the end. A blond I recognised from earlier classes, Malfoy, was acting like an idiot and the hippogryph in front of him was looking close to breaking. Eventually, he said one thing to many, and hippogryph reared up, talons flashing.

Enter Mouse, stage left. He hit the hippogryph in the side, sending it to the ground, giving Hagrid enough time to throw Malfoy out the way and get the thing under control. I made my way over, not really concerned. It would take more than that to hurt Mouse. 'Course, not everyone knew that, which led to a group of people - okay, girls - surrounding Mouse and fussing over him, which he loved. He had them giving him belly rubs in seconds.

Once the hippogryph was in the paddock, Hagrid told everyone to write something on the proper way to interact with hippogryphs and let the class out early. It was a bit weird getting assigned a length to write for homework instead of a number of pages, but I guess it's a British thing. The Potions professor had done the same thing, now that I thought about it, I just hadn't paid much attention then. Hagrid offered to have a look at Mouse, and make sure he was okay, which he seemed to be okay with, so I left him behind.

On the way back to the castle, people were all talking about how Malfoy nearly got cut up. A few people seemed to wish it had happened, either because they just didn't like Malfoy, like Ron, or so that Hagrid would be forced to stop teaching, like one or two of the Slytherins. Or maybe they didn't like Malfoy either. It was hard to tell.

Hermione led the way to the Arithmancy classroom.

Arithmancy was an odd sort of class, a bit of a combination of mathematics, physics and the magic behind numbers. Professor Vector was younger than I expected as well, maybe in her late twenties or early thirties, pretty in a bookish, librarian sort of way. She gave a brief overview of the the type of thing we would be covering, before moving quickly on to what she said was the smallest and most important number we would use; three.

"The number three is not the most powerfully magical number, but it is the basis for nearly every spell. Even outside the confining nature of spellcasting, the number three has an effect on magic. A promise thrice given is binding. A question thrice asked begs to be answered. A summon thrice given is stronger. The effect these have on humans is minimal, however. The effect is more pronounced on non-humans or those with other blood in their veins."

She went on to show how the number was used in spells, which lead into a bit on how these sort of spells were created, which was really interesting. I've never had need to make my own ritual before, but from the few I know, it really is a smaller version, which you then refine down to wand movements and an incantation, with the energy coming from within the wizard and the ritual providing structure for the power. It was an expansion on what my dad had mentioned in his class.

Arithmancy was my last class of the day, which left me an hour or so before dinner, so I asked Hermione if she could show me where the library was before she went to her next class. She left me just outside, and when I walked through the doors into the library I think I heard angels singing. It was glorious. I couldn't see the far side of the place, just shelf after shelf and row after row of books. I took a deep breath, taking in the smell of old leather, polish and book dust.

"Can I help you?"

The question came from an unhappy looking women who could probably be pretty if she tried. She gave me a look that told me I should answer her quickly.

"Could you point me towards the section first years might use?" I whispered. We were in a library, after all. She gave me directions, warning me not to take out any books without checking them out with her first. Guess she was the librarian. I thanked her and left.

The first year section was small, only a few rows of books, and also empty, which suited me fine. I looked through a few books, making a note of some that looked useful. I did the same for the second year section, which was a fair bit larger, then left the library, heading towards the room McGonagall had pointed out.

By the time I got there I had three quarters of an hour before dinner started, though Hermione had mentioned that, dinner lasting more than two hours, not everyone showed up right away. It wouldn't be odd to be a bit late. Inside the room was a small box, marked _First Year Supplies_ in a handwriting that looked familiar. Looking inside, I saw what looked like random objects. A handful of matches, some beetles, random crap. I left it where it was. I hope no-one actually was using the room.

I spent that time reading theory of Transfiguration. I think my dad had actually pointed out my problem in his class. Spells taught at Hogwarts are rituals, thaumaturgy. I had been treating it like evocation, which had seemed most similar, being used for quick and dirty magic. On the other hand thaumaturgy is a slow process, requiring a lot of concentration, at first. The closer the link you're making, and the more often you make it, the easier the rituals get. My dad can whip up a tracking spell as quick as greased lightning, but only because of years of practice and when using a good link. The first spell taught in Transfiguration was a matchstick to needle, because they had an okay, but not brilliant connection. On the other hand, it wasn't terrible either, meaning you only needed a fair grasp of the spell to cast it. Glancing up from the notes, I looked at the box. It was Professor McGonagall's writing. I got a couple matches from the box, reminding myself to thank her the next time I saw her. Getting that simple transfiguration took me the better part of an hour and a half. My first few weren't that great, but once I had the wand motions - in a normal ritual, that would be the circle, candles and reinforcements - and incantation down, they got better. I never got rid of the wood grain though, and the point could be pointier, but I was happy with the progress. It was only when my stomach started making noise I noticed the time.

I managed to get to the Great Hall on my own, only getting lost twice. Dinner was starting to wind down when I got there, with a lot of the dishes holding deserts now and most of the seats being empty. My dad looked up when I came in and gave me a smile before going back to talking to the professor next to him, a man I didn't recognize. I took a seat across from Hermione, who, as soon as she saw me, reached under the table and pulled out a bundle of parchment as thick as the business end of a baseball bat.

"My notes, for first year. Transfiguration, Charms and History. I know you said they could wait until after dinner, but I had to go up to fetch a book, so I picked them up as well. I also have some notes for Potions and Herbology, if you'd like them?"

I looked down at the notes, pages filled with Hermione's small, square handwriting. There were little bits of parchment sticking out the top, with the term labeled on it, and larger ones with the subject as well. "I'd love them, Hermione, and if you're notes are even half as good as they look, I'm gonna owe you for these."

"Trust me," Ron chimed in, "they are. I doubt me and Harry would have passed half our classes without Hermione's help, and there is no way we would have done as well as we did." Harry just nodded. Hermione blushed a little at the praise, ducking under the table and pulling out a smaller bundle. I took the second bundle and put both in my bag. While I was there, I lifted something out. "Here," I said, offering it to Hermione.

She looked at it, seeming slightly confused. "Is this…"

I nodded. "My personal copy of _Elementary Magic_, with all my notes from the three and a bit years I've been studying the Art. Plus some doodles. I've also got some notebooks in the dorm you're welcome to."

Hermione squee'd. I really didn't think she would, but she did. As soon as it was out of my hands and into hers, she was flipping through it, ignoring what was left of her dinner. I looked at her for a long moment, watching as she flipped through the book. "I should have waited until after dinner until I gave that to her, shouldn't I?"

"Mhm," Ron said, swallowing a mouthful of food. "You should have waited." Harry just nodded again. "C'mon Harry, give us a hand getting her to the common room. You coming, Maggie?"

I shook my head. "I'm gonna take a walk first. You two have fun though." I stood to leave, wrapping some now-cold chicken in a napkin and slipping it into my robe pocket. There was some sunlight left, so I took a quick walk outside, towards Hagrid's hut. There I found Mouse, having a staring contest with Fang, Hagrid's cowardly bloodhound. I thanked Hagrid for watching him.

"Ach, anytime Maggie," Hagrid replied, waving away my thanks. "Was my pleasure, really. You can send him my way anytime."

"You'll probably see more of him during the day than I will then, with classes and all that," I said, smiling.

Hagrid chuckled, then took a glance out the window. "You'd best be getting back to the school now, before it gets too dark. Wouldn't want ye getting lost."

"Not a bad idea. See you, eh," ah crap, did I have Care tomorrow? I didn't think so, "well, tomorrow when I come and get Mouse probably." Hagrid nodded, and saw me out, waving at me as I walked towards the castle.

My dad has talked to me about magic a lot. About how I should do my best to make sure that I never saw magic as just another tool I had, as my hammer to all the world's nails. To remember the wonder I felt the first time the power flowed through me.

Looking up at Hogwarts as night began to fall, and watching as, one by one, the windows were filled by the golden glow of candlelight, I didn't think that would be a problem.

The inside of the castle was quiet, lending the place an almost ethereal air. As large as it was, it wasn't surprising the only things I saw on my way to the common room where ghosts and cats.

I actually felt a fair amount of relief when the portrait swung open and the low murmur of voices flowed out. It had started to feel like I was the only person in the building.

Things were in full swing in the common room, conversation and arguments and laughter filling the air in equal measure. I managed to snag a seat at a table some other people seemed to be reading at, not too far from the fire, diving into the notes Hermione has so kindly given me. They were… comprehensive. Annotated, with sources and footnotes giving the page number when something from earlier was referenced. You could probably use these instead of a textbook. Hell, I just might, would save me buying it. I made a mental note to get her something really nice this Christmas. And every Christmas until I died. Seriously, these notes were good.

But even if they were the best notes ever, there's only so long I can spend reading theory before I lose focus - I'm only human, after all - so it wasn't long before I found myself looking for a distraction. Mouse was snoozing by the fire, and I didn't have the heart to wake him just to keep me company, so I fell back to my second option - playing with magic.

I somehow ended up trying to make the notes hover using controlled jets of wind. It went okay, wind not really being my specialty. I've got a bit of a knack for earth magic, nothing spectacular. Less than nothing compared to what my dad can do with fire or force, his favoured evocations, and don't even get me started on his tracking spells. Yet he still somehow manages to lose every other sock.

Someone dropped into the seat next to me, startling me enough that the small bit of wind I was using to keep the notes just above the table got away from me, sending them into the air, before gravity got its claws in them.

"Maggie!" Fred, or possibly George, said. "Just the young woman I've been looking for!"

I looked at him. "I've been here for about an hour."

He just smiled and kept talking. "So, I had my first lesson with your old man today, and I have to say it was enlightening. Wandless magic, just like that!" He snapped his fingers, causing a few people to look over. "And I was talking to my brother, Forge, after the class and little Ronniekins piped up that you'd been taught by your dad for years."

He paused there, so I managed to get some words in. "Since I was ten or eleven, yeah, why?"

"Well, my brother - that is my brother Gred - and I, we like to think of ourselves as entrepreneurs, and we're always on the lookout for some new idea that'll make us our fortune." He leaned in a bit, and I could see an almost manic look in his eye. "So, here's the deal we were thinking of. We might ask you for help from time to time, and in return we'll lend you our notes."

I lifted Hermione's notes up, and he deflated a little before I even said anything. "Sorry, already got Hermione's." He let out a sigh, earlier cheer gone, and it was such a depressing sight I decided to throw him a bone. "But if you can think of something else, I'm sure we can come to an agreement."

His eyes locked onto mine for a split second before I focused on his nose, and his grin came back full force. "I'll need to talk to Fred, but I think we might have something that'll interest you. Same time, same place tomorrow?"

I nodded, curious about what they would offer. Somehow, his grin got even wider as his twin appeared at his side from seemingly nowhere. They had a short conversation that was half whispers and half _looks_, some at each other and some at me, before moving over to a quiet corner of the common room.

After the twins left, I glanced down at Hermione's notes. Between these and the lectures Professor McGonagall gave me, I was basically set as far as theory went, but the lectures noted how quickly I should progress through the example spells as well. It should not have taken two lessons worth of practice for me to get the first spell.

A yawn managed to escape me. That was too big a problem for this late at night, so tomorrow me could deal with it. I was off to bed.


End file.
